Office



0. M. PARKS.

- B and B a turn-out or siding. The rails A UNITE-D STATES I PATENT Erica.

CALVIN M. PARKS, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

' RAILROAD -SWlTCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 272,313, dated February 13, 1883.

Application filed April 5. 1877.

To all whom tt may concern Be it known that I, CALVIN M. PARKS, of Washington, in the District of Columbia, have invented an Improvement-in Railroad- Switches; and I do hereby declare the follow ing to be a full and correct description of the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, in which-- Figures 1 and 2 are top views of my automatic railroad-switch, showing the switch open in Fig. l and closed in Fig. 2.

My improved switch relates to a railway having a double track, or to a track on which the cars always run the same way.

The object ofmy inv ntion is to provide a switch fora street-railroad track,which will be automaticin closing and cannot be left open.

My invention consists of a pivoted switchtongne having at one end the ordinary or other suitable point and at the opposite end an arm projecting laterally toward the side rail or turn-out track, so that when the switch has been set open'the flange of the wheel will enter at the point of the switchwithout moving the pivoted tongue, and then said flange, in passing through the switch, willstrike said laterallyprojecting arm of the pivoted tongue, and by thus pushing this arm away from the rail will close the point of the switch and thereby open the main line.

My invention further consists in the shape or configuration of the switch-point rail in combination with the track.

In the drawings,A and A represent the two rails of the main stem of a street-railroad, and

and siding B have the usual turn-out plates, a. In the rail A the tongueor switch-point O is pivoted at 0, so as to be shifted for the siding, as seen in Fig. 1, or closed therefor, as seen in Fig. 2. The point of this tongue may be notrhed into the rail, as seen in Fig. 2, or bear against the side of the rail, as shown in Fig. 1, so as to be in line with the straight track or main-line rail A. The arm 0 of the pivoted tongue bears against the rail B when the switch is open for the siding, as seen in Fig. 1, and is pushed away from rail B when the switch is closed to the siding, as seen in Fig. 2. The side of the switch-tonguetoward the rail A is straight, and, when the switch is set to the main line, forms part of the continuous straight line of the main track or main rail A; but the other side of the pivcommencing at its point, is parallel with the side-track rail and at a distance from it the thickness of the flange ot' the wheels of the cars. The second quarter, 3 is out out, so that its distance from the side track is. aboutonesixth more than the quarter or. quarter,z, is again parallel and at thesamedistance therefrom as the quarter 00, and the last quarter, q, inclines toward the track until at the end it touches it. This configuration must be adhered towhen the switch is constructed, as it should be, upon the basis of twice the length of the distance between the axles of the cars. The rear broad end of .my pivoted switch point or bar may be made solid, as shown in Fig. 1, or cut out, so as to admit the track-rail A, as in Fig. 2, and may be pivoted to and operate upon a baseplate in the ordinary manner.

The operation of my device is as follows: The switch-point O 0 having been previously prepared with reference to the curve with which it is to be used, and properly pivoted in its bed, is ready for use. My switch is intended for use on rail-tracks where the cars always run in the same direction, or from right to left, as indicated by the arrows on the drawings, the object being to keep theswitch closed to the siding, except when purposely set open. It will be observed that the normal condition of the switch is shut for the siding, thus making the main track continuous, and as a car entering the siding cannot leave the switch open, since the very actot' goingthrough closes it, it is clear that the main track will always be continuous and ready for use. It will be necessary to open the switch by hand when a car must leave the main track; but my improved switch never need be closed -to the siding by hand, as this is effected automatical- The third Irl as the wheels advance.

the open switch the wheels will find a parallel passage for their flange until the forward wheel arrives at the'commencemeut of the fourth quarter, g, which is inclined toward the track, at which time the rear wheel is about to enter the second quarter, y. The forward wheel then moves the extension 0 by pressing between the inclined side and the side-track rail, and the tongue (J, byreason of its cut-away quarter 3 is allowed to close upon the track \Vhen the forward wheel has passed the quarter q, the rear wheel tinds an uninterrupted passage out of the switch, leaving" it closed, and the main track continuous and ready for use.

l have described my switch as being automatic in closing, but it is obvious that it it should be placed in the siding and reversed it would automatically open.

The advantages of my improved automatic switch will be obvious.

The relative terms forward and backward, used in this specification and claims, are based upon the direction which the car is intended to take upon the track.

Having thus fuily described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- a 1. A railroad-switch point or bar pivoted centrally. and having at one end a suitable point and at the other a laterally-extended arm, which lies close to the turn out rail when the switch is open to the sidingand is pushed away from said rail, thus automatically setting the Switch to the main line as the flange of the forward car-wheel passes said arm, substantially as described.

2. A railroad-switch point having a pivot and laterally-extending arm, in combination with a side track, substantially as described.

The above specification of my said invention signed and witnessed at Vvashington this 5th day of April, A. D. 1877.

O. M. PARKS.

Witnesses THOMAS (J. CoNNoLLY, A. E. BEECHER. 

